Alcohol, Breast Cancer, and Choosing Dessert

Alcohol, Breast Cancer, and Choosing Dessert

🌼 Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2026

⚡ Energy: Informed, annoyed, and choosing cake

💝 Status: Talking about alcohol and breast cancer risk

🧐 Outlook: Your body, your choice — but let’s not hide the information

Today I want to talk about breast cancer and alcohol.

I know.

Super fun party topic.

Nothing says “pass the chips” like discussing carcinogens and recurrence risk.

But this is one of those things I feel like we should be talking about more openly, because there is a lot of mixed messaging out there.

Especially for women.

Especially around breast cancer.

Especially every October when everything turns pink and suddenly there are pink ribbon wine bottles, pink cocktail specials, pink beer promotions, and all kinds of “drink for the cure” nonsense.

And listen.

I love a themed moment as much as the next sparkly human.

But selling alcohol with a breast cancer ribbon slapped on it feels a little… gross.

Because from what I understand, alcohol is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Not just hard liquor.

Not just “too much.”

Alcohol.

Wine.

Beer.

Cocktails.

Seltzers.

The cute fruity drinks.

The fancy red wine that was supposed to be “healthy.”

Your body does not look at a glass of wine and say, “Oh, this one has antioxidants and a Pinterest-worthy label. We’ll process it differently.”

Nope.

Alcohol is alcohol.

And the body has to deal with it.

From what I have read, alcohol can increase breast cancer risk in a couple of ways.

It can raise estrogen levels, which matters a lot for hormone-sensitive breast cancer.

And when alcohol is processed in the body, it can create chemicals that damage DNA.

Estrogen and DNA damage are not exactly the dream team we are hoping for over here.

More like the “please do not invite them to the reconstruction party” team.

I also read that even small amounts of alcohol can raise breast cancer risk, and that major cancer organizations recommend that avoiding alcohol is best for cancer prevention, including for cancer survivors.

So no, I am not here to say one sip of champagne means doom.

That is not the point.

The point is that alcohol is not risk-free.

And for breast cancer patients and survivors, that information matters.

Because you cannot make an informed choice if the information is hidden behind pink marketing and “wine mom” jokes.

Now, I am not here to tell anyone what to do with their body.

Your body.

Your choice.

Always.

If you are a grown adult and you decide to have a drink, that is your decision.

I am not the alcohol police.

I do not have a badge.

I barely have the stamina to unload the dishwasher.

But I do think we deserve honest information.

Not shame.

Not fear.

Not judgment.

Information.

Because there is a big difference between someone making a choice because they understand the risk and someone making a choice because nobody told them the risk existed.

And honestly?

The marketing does not help.

Alcohol is marketed to women constantly.

Relax with wine.

Celebrate with wine.

Survive motherhood with wine.

Girls’ night with wine.

Book club with wine.

Pink ribbon wine.

Pretty can seltzers.

Cocktails with flowers in them.

Everything cute.

Everything social.

Everything wrapped in a little glittery bow.

Meanwhile, the cancer risk is sitting quietly in the fine print like, “Hey, hello, I am also here.”

Rude.

Very rude.

For me personally, especially with my cancer being hormone-related, this information hits differently.

I am on Lupron to shut down estrogen.

I will be on hormone blockers for years.

Years.

So if I am taking medication to block estrogen and lower my recurrence risk, it makes sense to me that I probably do not want to regularly drink something that can raise estrogen levels.

That is my personal math.

Annoying math.

But still math.

Because here is where my brain lands:

If I am literally getting a giant needle in my ass every month to shut down my ovaries and stop my body from making estrogen for cancer to feed on, why in the world would I willingly give my body alcohol that can help increase estrogen production?

Make it make sense.

To me, it is a no-brainer.

I am not going through butt-cheek hormone jail just to turn around and hand my body a margarita with an estrogen side quest.

No thank you.

Hard pass.

My cheeks have suffered enough.

Again, that does not mean everyone has to make the same choice I make.

No two cancers are the same.

No two treatment plans are the same.

No two people are the same.

This is a conversation to have with your own oncology team, especially if you are trying to decide what alcohol looks like for you after breast cancer.

But for me?

The choice is pretty clear.

Now, that does not mean I will never have another drink for the rest of my life.

I am not trying to set myself up to be a hypocrite.

There are two days I already know I will probably still have a beer.

Bryan’s birthday.

And the anniversary of his passing.

Those days are different.

Those beers are not casual drinking.

They are not “wine mom” culture.

They are not me ignoring the risk.

They are remembrance.

They are grief.

They are love.

They are me raising a beer to my son because that is one of the ways we honor him.

And I am okay with that.

Because informed choice does not mean perfection.

It means knowing the information and deciding what I am willing to carry.

Between sugar and alcohol?

I am eating dessert.

All day.

Every day.

Well, not literally every day because we already had the sugar talk, and balance still matters.

But if I am choosing where I want my occasional treat to come from, I am choosing the cookie.

The cupcake.

The piece of cake.

The ice cream.

The emotional support brownie.

Because after learning what I have learned, alcohol just does not feel worth it to me.

Not right now.

Maybe not ever.

And honestly, I do not feel deprived by that.

I am not sitting here mourning a bottle of wine.

I am sitting here thinking, “Okay, cancer already took enough. I can let alcohol go, but I am not giving up birthday cake too.”

That seems fair.

A little sad for margarita season, maybe.

But fair.

And let me say this part clearly:

Choosing not to drink does not make me better than anyone.

Choosing to drink does not make someone else bad.

This is not a morality contest.

This is cancer recovery.

We are all just trying to make decisions with the information we have, the bodies we live in, and the risks we are willing to carry.

But the information should not be buried.

It should not be softened because it makes people uncomfortable.

It should not be hidden behind pink labels in October.

If alcohol increases breast cancer risk, women deserve to know that.

Breast cancer patients deserve to know that.

Survivors deserve to know that.

People with strong family histories deserve to know that.

And then they get to decide what to do with it.

No shame.

No lectures.

No finger wagging.

No “well actually” comments over someone’s dinner.

Just honest information.

Because informed choice matters.

So here is my Tina PSA:

If you are walking through breast cancer or life after breast cancer, and you are wondering about alcohol, ask your oncology team.

Ask the question.

Even if it feels awkward.

Even if you already know the answer might annoy you.

Ask anyway.

And if you decide to cut back or stop, good for you.

If you decide to save alcohol for rare occasions, good for you.

If you decide differently after talking to your doctor, that is between you, your medical team, and your own body.

As for me?

I am choosing dessert.

Because if I am going to have a treat, I want it to come with frosting.

Not estrogen drama.

Not DNA damage.

Not pink ribbon marketing hypocrisy.

Frosting.

Preferably chocolate.

Cancer already got my boobs, my hair, my stamina, my strength, my trust in my body, and far too much of my bank account.

It does not get to take every sweet thing too.

So cheers.

With water.

Or tea.

Or a protein shake that tastes suspiciously like dessert if I close my eyes and lie to myself.

And twice a year, with a beer raised to Bryan.

Tiny Tina is informed.

Google MD is slightly less boring today.

And the alcohol industry can keep its pink ribbon wine.

I will be over here with cake.

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